Among Us: Unearth the Deception

(9) Strawberry Milk and Black Coffee

Chapter Nine
Words: 1161

A holographic timer then appeared in front of us, counting down from five minutes. Every muffled tick acted as an orchestra of my anxieties with me as my own conductor.

"Where was Orange?" Brown calmly asks.

I wiped the tears from my flushed face and scoffed: "How can you be so calm while asking a question like that? I found her dead body at security...she was just draped over the chair so unnaturally."

I then fastened my helmet like everyone else, mostly to shield my tears.

"The body may have been moved to security with a pose like that," Black pointed out.

"Listen, Pink. We have to be asking questions like that. Look at that timer," White asserts, settling one hand on her hip and the other to point to the timer.
I guess she's right...still, we should be humane even in this situation.

"White...," I started, "You we're on the shift after Orange, it's you isn't it? I can never forgive you if you did that to Orange."

White scoffed. "So quick to point fingers, Pink. Isn't it you who so conveniently allowed Orange to take over? Acting like a little damsel in distress only gets you so far. Who are you trying to trick with that innocent flower?"

"I...," I trailed off.

"That's what I thought," White says, her voice authoritarian and centered.

"I don't know if it would be Pink or not," Brown admits, "But...I don't want to eject anyone innocent."

White leaned on the table. "Brown finally speaks up. You should know that your innocent  friend Pink here could make us fall into the same fate as Unit One. We all saw the suits, every single color."

With that, we all went silent. We all know, but how could she even mention it with no sense of strain in her voice?

"I know who I'm voting for," White announces, turning her head towards me.

"Me as well... I kind of feel like we should skip for now and finish guarding," Brown says, "But if we vote now...we could save another person from being like Orange."

I looked at Black with pleading eyes but he seems to be frozen in place, his movements emotionless: "I'm voting as well."

I hit the skip button and soon saw the results on the plaque: 2 votes for Pink, 0 votes for White, 0 votes for Brown, 0 votes for Black, and 2 votes for skip. I couldn't see who voted for what, but I can only guess.
The hologram then formed a sentence in white letters, carrying four empty words: "Tie: Two Imposters Remain".

Of course, it wasn't Orange...then it leaves Black, White, or Brown. It's unreasonable for me to even think this, but could I be an imposter? Is that possible for me to not even know?

"Pink, why don't you finish your guard this time? You still have 40 minutes left," White says, leaving with the rest of the group.
I clenched my fists and sighed, looking out into the empty ship.

I did my rounds but continuously skipped over security, feeling an off feeling in my stomach even coming close to there. Ultimately, I forced myself down the hallway and peered into security, where the body is gone. I squinted as there is a slight blood smear on the floor, like Orange's corpse was dragged. I followed the blood to the garbage shoot in storage.

I shakily pulled the lever and clasped a hand over my mouth as her corpse was ejected into space. I placed a hand on the glass while tears grouped at the ends of my eyes, only falling as I blinked, watching her body float gradually away from me.
I looked up at the clock in storage...one minute left. I walked out of storage and into the cafeteria, seeing Black leaning on the wall, seemingly waiting for me.

"I didn't vote for you," Black says.

"I wouldn't have blamed you if you had."

As I walked past him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me into a tight hug. I went limp but lifted my weak arms to rest on his back.
"Is this an act of friendship, Black?" I say, laughing slightly but my lips couldn't form into a smile, only parting a bit.

Black didn't answer, ignoring me for a bit. "Dorian."

He then broke off the embrace and started to walk off.
"I'm—."

Black put a finger to his lips as he continued to walk away. His name is Dorian, huh? That's...appropriate as that's his father's middle name. Why would he tell me? Isn't he afraid that he would be punished as Orange was for taking my task card?

• • •

That morning, I woke up and went about as normal as a routine as I could follow: brushing my teeth, fixing my bird-nest of a hairstyle, and dressing in my suit—bringing the flower crown helmet in my hands.
I walked into the cafeteria and picked up a simple breakfast, sitting at an empty table. I took out my task card and saw my new sets of tasks for the day: Fix Wiring in Electrical (0/3), Start Reactor, Divert Power to Security in Electrical (0/2), Prime Shields, and Swipe Card in Admin.

Black then sat down across from me, gaining my attention as he was stuffing food in his mouth. His tray consisted of black coffee, plain cereal, and a bag of various nuts.

"That's quite in character," I say, nodding towards his black coffee.
Being with Black makes things feel normal, like I didn't just see Orange's corpse float into the endless void of space.

"Likewise," he chuckles, referring to the strawberry milk I have on my tray.

I eyed his task card on the table. "You found it?"

Black drank some coffee before answering me right away, "Yeah, found it laying in medbay."

We started to eat our food in silence until Brown joined us, him looking sleepy.
"Those late shifts were the worst," Brown complained.

"I'm the one who got the latest ones, knock it off sleeping beauty," Black muttered.

Brown sat next to me and laughed a bit: "'Sleeping beauty', huh? If I knew you fancied me I would've taken you from Pink a while ago."

I choked a bit on my drink and covered my mouth with a napkin.

As Black started to rise from his seat, Brown lifted his hands in surrender, waving a napkin as a white flag, and went back to where he was sitting while taking some food off of my tray.

I guess we all went back to normal as White and Brown had voted to eject me into space, slowly having my oxygen run out until my inevitable death. That is, unless something else got to me before then.

My eyes met White's as she gives me a sarcastic smile before putting on her helmet, walking off.